All current NCADV members will receive a special access code from Sylvia Baca, NCADV Membership Director, via email for the NCADV Member rate during the registration process. If you have not already received this code via email from sbaca@ncadv.org, please contact her via email or call (303) 839-1852 x 104 to join, check on your membership status, renew your membership, and/or receive your code.

Please note: you will not be able to receive the member rate(s) and any applicable group discounts without this code.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS:
Individual NCADV members are eligible for one discounted registration fee only of $200. The system will not allow you to register multiple people at this individual discounted rate using your member code. If you wish, you will still be able to register additional people, but at non-member, youth, or daily rates. Individual registrants are not eligible for group discounts.

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS:
NCADV organizational members are able to register multiple people from their agency at the discounted rate. NOTE: TO RECEIVE THE MEMBER RATE FOR EACH REGISTRANT FROM YOUR AGENCY, YOU MUST ENTER THE ORGANIZATIONAL CODE PROVIDED TO YOU BY SYLVIA BACA (will come via email) FOR EACH REGISTRANT IN THE SPACE PROVIDED.

NCADV organizational members are also eligible for an additional $25 off per registrant for groups of four (4) or more people registering from your agency (all must be employees or board members of your organization to qualify for the discount). This discount will be applied upon checkout.

If you would like to become a member of NCADV or have questions about NCADV membership, please click here or contact Sylvia Baca at sbaca@ncadv.org or (303) 839-1852 x 104.

Discounts of $25 per person are available for groups of four (4) or more people registering from the same agency (please note: all registrants must be employees or board members of the agency to qualify for the discount). Discounts will be applied to the rate upon checkout.

With this rate, you may attend any event on the day you choose. You will be able to specify the day of your attendance on the next page. You must purchase additional days if you wish to attend other events on other days or purchase registration for the full conference.

*This institute is included as an event for attendees who have registered to attend the entire conference. The fee of $75 is only applicable to those wishing to attend the custody institute only on 7/25.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) will sponsor a Child Custody Institute at the conclusion of their national conference to be held in Denver, Colorado. The conference is co-sponsored with the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) and will take place from July 22-25. The Child Custody Institute will be provided on Wednesday, July 25 from 1:30 to 5:30 PM.

The battered women’s movement had made progress for many years, making it easier for victims of domestic violence to obtain protective orders, divorce, financial support, shelter, criminal prosecution and community support. This made it easier for women to leave their abusers which in turn helped reduce the domestic violence homicide rate. Significantly, communities that were most successful in reducing domestic violence crime and particularly homicide included practices to help victims leave their abusers as part of their successful strategy.

Abusers have developed a particularly cruel tactic to discourage their partners from leaving by seeking custody in order to pressure mothers to return or punish them for leaving. The custody court system developed practices at a time when no research was available and has failed to reform these outdated approaches after the research established they were working poorly for children. Abusive fathers have been helped by the development of a cottage industry of professionals who learned they can make substantial incomes by using practices that support abusive fathers because abusers tend to control the family finances.

Although most contested custody cases involve domestic violence, the courts have inadvertently supported abusive fathers through the misconception that these cases are “high conflict.” This leads to practices of pressuring battered mothers to cooperate with their abusers instead of pressuring abusive fathers to stop their abuse. Repeatedly we see cases in which dangerous abusers receive custody and safe, protective mothers are taken out of their children’s lives. These failed practices have led to a reversal in the progress for preventing domestic violence and a rise in domestic violence homicide. For all these reasons the NCADV has made the protective mother issue one of its highest priorities.

The Child Custody Institute will be led by Barry Goldstein, co-editor with Mo Therese Hannah of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY which has quickly become the leading book in its field. The faculty will consist of a multi-disciplinary group of the leading national experts in domestic violence and custody. They will present information about current scientific research, focusing on safety issues, the effects of domestic violence on children, best ways to challenge biased and unqualified evaluators, overcoming the widespread failure of courts to believe valid complaints of child sexual abuse, best practices and tips for presenting the best case possible. The Institute will conclude with an interactive discussion of how to reform the system in order to better protect children.

We are excited about this Institute and believe it can help start to make a difference. We will provide more details as they become available.

Speakers:

Barry Goldstein: Barry Goldstein is a nationally recognized domestic violence speaker, writer, advocate and consultant. He has worked in the movement to end domestic violence since 1983. Barry is the co-editor with Mo Therese Hannah of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY and author of SCARED TO LEAVE AFRAID TO STAY. Barry is currently working with Mo on a second volume of their book and with Elizabeth Liu on a book to train lawyers to present domestic violence cases. He has given presentations for the NCADV, BMCC (every year), OVW of the Justice Department, Oklahoma Attorney General, IVAT, Louisiana Coalition and many other dv organizations and colleges. Barry has also served as an instructor and supervisor of a NY Model Batterer Program since 1999 and is Co-Chair of the Child Custody Task Force of NOMAS. Barry can be reached at Barryg78@aol.com.

Mo Therese Hannah: Dr. Mo Therese Hannah, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Siena College in Loudonville, New York. A clinical psychologist who specializes in couples therapy, she is an Academic and a Faculty Member of Imago Relationships International, the professional training organization for Imago Therapy. She has published six books and numerous articles and presentations on topics related to relational psychology. With Joe Marrone, Ph.D., she is the author of The EQ (Social-Emotional Intelligence) Program, which teaches elementary age children the principles and practices of good character and of equitable and respectful relationships. Dr. Hannah's interest in abusive dynamics and their impact on interpersonal relationships led her to become the Founder (with Liliane Miller) and Chair of the Battered Mothers Custody Conference (BMCC). Now in its tenth year, the conference hosts the nation's leading attorneys, experts, authors, and advocates working in the area of battered mothers' custody problems to present their cutting-edge knowledge and experience to litigating mothers, to other experts, and to the general public.

Joan Zorza, Esq. is the founding editor of both Domestic Violence Report and Sexual Assault Report, and has been working to end violence against women and children for more than thirty years. A member of the bars of Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia, she has written extensively on child custody, domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault matters, and is the author of the three volume set of books, Violence Against Women Volumes (2002. 2004, and 2006), and Guide to Interstate Custody: A Manual for Domestic Violence Advocates (1992, 1995). She was awarded for her work on custody by the Department of Justice in 1998, by the City of New York Human Resources Administration for her work on behalf of victims of domestic violence in 2000, and by the Sunshine Lady Foundation for her work on violence against women in 2002. She is on the research advisory committee of the International Association of the Chiefs of Police, a member of the board of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic Violence and represented or supervised lawyers and law students in cases on behalf of more than 2,000 battered women and almost 200 sexually abused children as an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and at the National Battered Women’s Law Project of the now defunct National Center on Women and Family Law. She no longer represents any clients, but remains involved with many organizations and through her writings and speaking to increase the safety of women and children.

Lynn Hecht Shafaran: Lynn Hecht Schafran is Senior Vice President at Legal Momentum and has been director of Legal Momentum's National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts (NJEP) since 1981. Lynn also serves as a senior staff attorney, litigating and writing in the areas of sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, and family law.

*This institute is included as an event for attendees who have registered to attend the entire conference. The fee of $75 is only applicable to those wishing to attend the custody institute only on 7/25.

Presenters: Allie Phillips, Diane Balkin, Phil Arkow, Kath Schoen

Topic: Connecting Animal Abuse and Family Violence

InstituteDescription:

How do we get communities to engage in a multi-disciplinary, coordinated response that sends a message that family violence will not be tolerated? Join us as a team of experts address how the domestic violence field can collaborate with the criminal justice system and community coalitions to protect all victims of family violence. Case studies will be used to describe how tragedies could have been presented with an interdisciplinary model of integrative prevention and intervention strategies. Prosecutors will describe how the criminal justice system works and issues involved in domestic violence and animal abuse cases. Models for building effective community coalitions against all forms of family violence will be presented.

Presenter Bios:

Allie Phillips, J.D. is Director of the National Center for Prosecution of Animal Abuse and Deputy Director of the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse for the National District Attorneys Association in Alexandria, VA. She pioneered the concept of Sheltering Animals and Families Together (SAF-T)® in which 69 domestic violence shelters in 30 states, plus others in Australia and Sweden, are building on-site animal housing facilities on-site to keep families intact during domestic violence transitions. A former prosecutor in Michigan, she has dedicated her career to helping victims of crime, particularly animals and children, and raising awareness about protecting animals to keep communities safe. She has written several books and manuals and is a nationally recognized trainer, author and media commentator.

Diane Balkin served as Chief Deputy District Attorney in Denver, CO where she pioneered the prosecution of animal abuse cases during her 32-year tenure. She was the first non-veterinarian to be named president of the Colorado Board of Veterinary Medicine. She is president-elect of the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association and a staff attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Phil Arkow, of Stratford, NJ, is coordinator of the National Link Coalition which explores policy, programming and research at intersections of animal cruelty, domestic violence, child maltreatment and elder abuse. He is a consultant to the ASPCA, the Animals and Society Institute, and the Latham Foundation and teaches Animal-Assisted Therapy and Activities courses at Camden County and Harcum Colleges. He has authored or edited 10 key reference books and innumerable chapters and articles on animal-assisted therapy, the human-animal bond, humane education, the animal abuse/human violence connection, and animal shelter management. He has founded several state and national organizations and served on boards of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Delta Society, the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians, the National Animal Control Association, and the American Humane Association. He trains internationally on a variety of topics.

Kath Schoen, of Denver, CO, has worked in family violence prevention and intervention since 1985. She is director of the Colorado Bar Association’s Local Bar Relations and Access to Justice Department, and has served as the association’s Family Violence Program Director since 1997. She coordinates the Colorado Alliance for Cruelty Prevention, and serves on the National Link Coalition’s steering committee.

You will have the opportunity to add additional group members later in the registration process. Fees associated with this event for all registrants in the group will be charged to the first person in the group. If members of the group are paying individually (for example, with different credit cards), you must create separate registrations for each.

Groups of four (4) or more people registering from the same agency (must be employees or board members of same agency) receive a discount of $25 per person. This discount is only available to groups registering at the member and non-member rates. All other rates are excluded. Discounts will be applied upon checkout.

To become an NCADV member or learn more about NCADV membership, please click here or contact Sylvia Baca as listed below.

If you have questions, please contact Sylvia Baca at (303) 839-1852 x 104 or sbaca@ncadv.org.

A discount of $25 per person off member and non-member rates is applied when four (4) or more people register from the same agency (note: registrants must be employees or board members of the agency to receive the discount). This rate does not apply to any other rates. Discounts will be applied upon checkout.

To become an NCADV member or learn more about NCADV membership, click here or contact Sylvia Baca at (303) 839-1952 x 104 or sbaca@ncadv.org.